Why Are Stem Cells Important

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that are capable of renewing themselves and can be induced to become tissue or organ-specific cells with certain functions (NIH, 2015). Stem cells first started to catch wind in 1868, but it was a term that appeared in scientific literature to describe a fertilized egg that can become an organism (Boston Children’s Hospital, 2015). Over the years, stem cells were studied thoroughly and helped scientists understand how human diseases, like diabetes and cancer, develop. Of course over the time span of 1868 to the present, stem cells have been changed and updated due to the advancement of technology. For example, scientist have found a safer method with their iPS cells and can now remove genes necessary to reprogram adult cells into a stem cell after the reprogramming stage is done (Boston Children’s Hospital, 2015). …show more content…
The importance of stem cells is that stem cells have the potential to be a great asset in medicine and help cure a patient. Scientist and physicians plan on using a patient’s own stem cells to treat them or use donated stem cells that match the patient genetically. At the moment stem cells aren’t able to be maintained or harvested because the amount needed for treatment is not enough. Even though stem cells can be very useful in the medical field there are many controversies behind the studies and uses of stem cells. There are 3 main controversies behind stem cell uses and they are; controversy with embryo use, controversy with reproductive cloning, and controversy with animal-human